Across the floor and walls sprawl grand mosaics and sculptures depicting lions, piles of gold, thunderbolts and ancient Roman gods. "When this building was created, it was designed as a working bank building. There were people coming and going all day," explains the Bank of England Museum's curator, Jenni Adam. "And immediately they were greeted with this sense of grandeur along with lots and lots of messages about what's happening in this site."
After seeing a strong beat for GDP in June, surprisingly strong retail sales figures and upbeat survey data over the summer, optimists would be forgiven for thinking the UK economy was defying the doubters. That wasn't to be this month, the UK economy is firmly back in the slow lane. Stagflation remains the key challenge for policy makers. With anaemic growth and inflation running at 3.8%, the Bank of England may feel its hands are tied.
Nigel Farage could strip the City watchdog of its power to regulate the banking industry under a sweeping overhaul to undo changes made after the 2008 financial crisis if Reform UK was elected to government. The leader of the party at the top of opinion polls has said he wants to prepare for the potential for an early general election in 2027.
last week's blowout is reminder to the government that gilt market will not accept excess borrowing
The rise in inflation in May introduces some further uncertainty into the near-term outlook for businesses prices, adding that they need to squeeze out inflation.
At the heart of the row is the legacy of quantitative easing (QE) - the Bank's £895 billion bond-buying programme launched during the global financial crisis and expanded in response to the pandemic.